Nam Center Colloquium Series: "Korean (Language) Studies in the U.S. Higher Education: Evolution and Prospect"

The enormous popularity of Korean popular culture called 'Hallyu" (Korean Wave) in recent years has inspired many college students to learn Korean. The classroom has been filled with students of more diverse ethnic, language, and cultural backgrounds than ever before. More Korea-related courses are being offered while Korean language classes have seen a significant increase in enrollment. Language serves as the basis for area studies program and it is crucial to understand the relationship between language and other subjects. This presentation will discuss the history and evolution of Korean Language Programs in major U.S. colleges and universities in the context of their development of general Korean Studies program. Current state and issues associated with program development will also be discussed.

Hye-Sook Wang is an associate professor of East Asian Studies at Brown University. She is the author of Generation Gap and Other Essays: Reading in Korean Culture 1 and Frog’s Tears and Other Stories: Readings in Korean Culture 2 (both by Cheng & Tsui), and co-author of Integrated Korean: High Advanced I & II (by University of Hawaii Press). She is also the editor of The Korean Language in America: Journal of the American Association of Teachers of Korean, for which she has been serving since 2005. She served as the president of the American Association of Teachers of Korean from 2003 to 2006, after serving as its treasurer and a board member. She is currently working on a project “Narrative History of Korean Programs in U.S. Colleges and Universities.”